X12 Save As is Saving as X8 - How do I Correct?

[DefinedDesign]

I started a new plan in X12 and selected Save As to save the plan to a different folder with a new file name.  When I open the Newly named plan by navigating to the folder it is in it opens in X8, uncertain why my X12 .plan is saving as an X8 .plan.  Any thoughts on what I need to fix to make this X12 plan Save As X12 and open in X12? 

One other note: If I open X12 and navigate to that the newly saved .plan it will open in X12 but if I have closed out of CAX12 and then click on the file it opens in X8.  

I have no need to work in X8 and would like to get this corrected.

 

Thanks in advanced,

[HamlinBC]

It may be a windows related issue. If you go to your start menu and type in "file association", you can choose which program is the default for each file type you may open. Scroll down the never ending list and find the .plan and the .layout files and make sure they're associated with the correct version of Chief Architect.

[DefinedDesign]

2 minutes ago, HamlinBC said:

It may be a windows related issue.

Thanks for the quick reply, is there a way to check file association on a Macbook Pro?

[TeaTime]

43 minutes ago, DefinedDesign said:

When I open the Newly named plan by navigating to the folder it is in it opens in X8,

Yeah it's absolutely File Association, there's no such thing as X12 "saving an X8" file, Windows just says ".plan files open with [program]", yours is set to X8 still.

2 minutes ago, HamlinBC said:

go to your start menu and type in "file association",

you can also just right-click the plan file and choose "Open With", select X12 and make sure its set to always open files of that type.

Do the same for a Layout file.

[HamlinBC]

Just now, DefinedDesign said:

Thanks for the quick reply, is there a way to check file association on a Macbook Pro?

I'm unfamiliar with Mac's, but I assume its the same situation.

[TeaTime]

2 minutes ago, DefinedDesign said:

on a Macbook Pro?

Ah. Mostly the same as above, Right-Click> Open With, but select "Other" instead of just choosing X12. You can set the default there.

 

*Edit: see https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/how-to-manage-file-associations-in-macos/

[DefinedDesign]

5 minutes ago, TeaTime said:

https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/how-to-manage-file-associations-in-macos/

Doesn't get any easier than that to fix this one file.  Thanks!  Hopefully going forward all my 'save as' in X12 will default to to opening in x12.  

[DefinedDesign]

@solverProvided the answer on how to get my X12 to 'save as' X12.
 

Preferences > General > File Management

At the bottom, click Associate Files With This Program
 

[Dermot]

Just to be clear, Chief has never been able to save a ".plan" or ".layout" file using an older version file format.  We can read files from older versions but we can't write them in a way that the older version can read it.  This means that any file saved from X12 will always be an X12 file regardless of how or where you save it (unless you open it up in a newer version and then save it).

 

This is really just a system problem having to do with file associations. When you use "file open" from your operating system it will automatically start a program and then pass it the file name to open.  On your system, it sounds like it was automatically opening X8 instead of X12.  You should have then gotten an error message saying that X8 could not read the file because it was written by a newer version.

 

The solution is to tell your system to use X12 when you want to open up ".plan" and ".layout" files.

 

For future reference, we have a tech support article that explains how to change your system settings so that your version of Chief Architect is associated with these files.  You can find the article here:

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-01131/associating-plan-layout-and-library-files-with-the-latest-version-of-chief-architect-or-home-designer.html

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by Dermot
just trying to further clarify what is happening

[DefinedDesign]

4 hours ago, Dermot said:

Just to be clear,

Thanks for your added clarification.  What is perplexing is that previously I had saved numerous files as X12 files but when using 'save as' I encountered the problem of it saving as X8.  

When I installed CA X12 I think I must have selected yes to the question: "Do you want to associate plan, layout, and library files with this program?" because I was able to save new files created in X12 as X12 files.  

After following @solver advice I'm now able to 'save as' and it actually does save the file as X12.  Incredibly grateful to him and his kindness to quickly follow through with a correct answer to solve my problem.

 

Thanks for posting the link to the CA article - it's very helpful.  Not sure if other ChiefTalk users look for answers to strange issues with CA as often as I do but I find it very helpful to have links to articles (thanks @TeaTime) that explain how to fix the issue, even thought I may have landed on a post that is three years old.  

Grateful for this community and literally blown away at the generosity of everyone's willingness to help.  


 

[Dermot]

My guess is that something happened on your system to change the file associations back to X8.  This could have been done manually or it could have happened automatically if you reinstalled X8 for example. There are probably a number of other ways that it could have happened as well.

 

Regardless, if you ever run into the case where trying to open a ".plan" or ".layout" file starts the wrong program you should be able to fix it now.